Ingot mold



Patented Aug. 14, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT iol-FicaI meow mom).

Application led November 292 1927. Serial No. 236,494.

This invention relates to metallic ingot molds open at top and bottom,andparticularly to molds of the kind commonly used for casting steelingots. Molds of this kind are commonly mounted on a stool or similarsupport which in many cases has a projection which enters the bottomopening of .the mold and assists in stripping or detaching the ingotfrom the Walls of the lmold chamber, while in other cases the stool orvsupporting plate is formed with an opening which registers with thebottom opening of the mold and through which a stripping plug may beinserted and operated to detach the ingot from'the mold walls. Mypresent invention relates particularly to this last-mentioned kind ofmolds. l

In the case of all molds supported on a stool"or, supporting plate,there is danger of the molten steel passing laterally out of the moldvchamber into or through the joint between the bottom of the mold and thetop of the stool, and thus forming tins which prevent or impede the freestripping ofthe ingot from the mold. Various devices have been vused toprevent the formation of such lfins and several patents have been issuedto me for this purposev as shown, for instance, in the following UTS.patents: No. 1,019,- 244, No. 1,170,629, N0.,1,188,751, No. 1,209,- 283,No. 1,570,473, No. 1,611,020,.N0. 1,630,- 612, No. 1,643,241, No.1,649,522.

It is also important that the lower portion of the mold chamber and thewalls of the bottom opening should be so formed that the ingot may beeasil 'strip ed from the mold` and that said wa ls sha1 be protectedagainst the eiects of the im act and erosive action of the liquid steelwhile being teemed into the mold.

In my U: S. patents, for instance, No. 1,170,629, No. 1,188,751, No.1,611,020, and No. 1,643,241,'I have shown different ways A of formingthe mold chamber and the bottom opening of the ingot to facilitatestripping of the'mold and for preventing or reducing the injuriouseifect oftencaused by the action of the steel while being poured.4 j

My present invention relates particularly 50 to the means employed forclosing the bottom opening of the mold,- for protecting the Amold wallsandfor stripping the ingot from the mold.

' According to my invention the opening in `ploved.

thebottom of the mold is closed by a plug which enters the bottomopening and. preferably rests on a ledge formed by thestool andsurrounding an opening therein, which 1s concentric with the bottomopening of the mold. The stool has an opening passing through it .inwhich a stripping plug is "ar"- ranged whlch maybe raised so as to comei1n contact with the bottom of the sealing plug and supportv it, and thussustain the weight of metal in the mold during the pouring and castingoperation. way 'the strain on the sealing plug is largely relieved. Theopening in the lstool may be of ytwo diameters so that a ledge orshoulder 1s formed on thel upper portion of the stool on which thesealing plugl rests either when idle'or while the mold is being poured.The seallng plug may be cup-shaped or solid. I t 1s preferably formedcup-shaped of relai tively thin metalv made 'strong enough to seal themold opening and to. support the In this l'lo metal during the pouringof the mold and until the mold is stripped, when it passes out of themold with the ingot to which it adheres. i

Other features of my invention and the details of construction will behereinafter more fully described.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure `1 shows a vertical central section through a portion of an ingotmold and a portion of a stool `on which the mold is supported. Parts ofthe mold are broken away for convenience of illustration.

Figure 2 is a horizontal section on the line 2-2 ofFigure 1.

Figure 3 'isla perspective view of a hollow cup-shaped sealing plugwhich may be em Figure plug.

Figure 5 is a. sectional view, showing a modification.

Referring tothe first four figures of the drawings, a' portion of aGathmann ingotmold is illustrated in which the walls A of the mold aremade thicker and thus more heat absorptive in the lower portion of thener illustrated for purposes explained in v some of my prior atentsabive mentioned. The mold is provi ed with a bottom openingB whichtapers, as indicated, from its upper end downwardly, joining atl a thenecked-in portion of the lower part of the meld cavity. This bottomopening may, for some purposes, be considered as a part `of the moldcavity as'it would be if it were not occupied by a sealing plug, andwhere a hollow sealing plug is used, asshownl in Figure 1, the moltenmetal fills the plug and the hollow or cavity in the plug is thus made apart of the mold cha ber. It will be observed that the mold wa ls arerounded at a where the walls of the bottomv opening join the straight orflat walls a .which latter merge into the curved walls a.

In order to seal the bottom opening while the molten` metal is beingpoured into the mold to prevent leakage, I may employ a hollow sealingplug of the kind illustrated -in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4. The exteriorwalls of this plug are tapered to fit the walls 0f the lbottom openingof the mold. They fit it very closely so that molten metal cannot passall the way downwardly between `the walls of the plug and the walls ofthe bottom opening and there is thus no chance of an escape of moltenmetal from the bottom of the mold.

In the form of my invention illustrated in Figure 1, the mold rests on astool C provided with a stripper or stripping'plu .D which i movablevertically in the stoo ,It is possib e to support the mold on a solidstool and to move the mold, when ready for stripping, to a truck, forinstance, provided lwith a projection adapted to contact with thesealing plug, and raise the ingot soas to detach it from the wallslof'the mold, and

permit oftits removal therefrom by means of lifting'torrgs or grippersof some kind. Howevei/flefer to retain the mold on the stool an o formthe stool with an. opening 1 through'hich a stripping plug may be passedwithout movingl the mold. This Os tripping plug may be carried by atruckand may be raised at the proper time into contact with the` sealing plugin order .to raisethe ingot sucientl to separate it from the moldwalls,but preferpto mount the stripper in the stool So that it is separabletherefrom but is supported thereby. As indicated in Figure 1, thestripper may h'ave an enlarged-"up er portion d and a lower portion dwhi'e 'extends below the bottom 4 y of tl'e stool. The enlargedupperportion d may rest on, a ledge w formed around the opening through whichthe stripper D passes.

.the hollow sealing -plug will, receive the impact and erosive action ofthe 'metal and any initial splashing will be largely confined vthe wallsofthe mold so that the ingot may y said the weight of metal in the moldand to partially take the strainfromthe sealing plug. After the -metalis solidified and the lngot is formed the stripper may be moved so as topush on the sealing plug and. raise the ingot sufficiently to loosenthem from contact with the walls of the bottom opening and be readilyremoved from the mold -by lifting tongs or other such devices.

In Figure 5 I have shown a modification in which the sealing plug ismade solid and is supported on the shoulder a: of the stool carrying themold while in contact with the plug D. While I prefer. to use a hollowsealing plug it should be understood that I may use a solid plug Eadapted to rest upon a ledge of a stool as illustrated.

I claim as my invention: y

1. An ingot mold open atv the top and having a bottom opening, incombination with a stool having an opening through it of smallerdiameter than the bottom opening of the mold, anda sealing plug restingon the ledge or shoulder thus provided on the stool surrounding thisopening.

2. An ingot mold open'atthe top and having a bottom opening and asealing plug, in combination-with a stool having an opening through itof smaller diameter than the alsv bottom opening of the mold,vand astripping y 1 plug' extending into the opening of the stool jingot fromthe mold.

3. An ingot mold open at the top and. having a 4bottom opening, vincombination with a stool having an openingthrough it ofI smallerdiameter than the bottom opening of the mold and havin a' shoulderbetween its upper and lower en s, a sealingplug filling` the bottomopening of the mold, and a stripper having its upper portion resting onthe shoulder formed in the stool and having its lower portion extendingbeyond the bottom of the stool.` 1

4. An ingot mold open at the top having a necked-in lower portion, and abottom opening the walls of which merge into the lao necked-in portionoffthe' mold, a sealing plug..l u

' thereof, a stool having an opening extending through it, and astripping plug arranged in openlng adapted to move vertically l thereininto cntact with the sealing plug andto raise sald sealing plug with theingot when formed.

5. An ingot` mold open at the-' top ,13

having a, bottom opening, in combination stripping lplug havinganenlarged upper with a stool having an opening through it of end restingon the shoulder of the opening smaller diameter than the bottom 'o eningin the stool and having a lower portion 10 of the mold and provided witha. le ge or extending below the bottom of the stool. l shoulder betweenits upperfand lower ends, In testimony whereof, I have hereunto asealing plug extending from top to bottom subscribed my nam of thebottom opening in the mold, and a EMIL GATHMANN.

